9,000+ Homeless People Fed In Hyderabad On World Hunger Day Thanks To Food Distribution Drive

“We are here to spread smiles – 9,000 smiles.” – Mohammed Aziz, Founder, Food Bank – Hyderabad.

“Coming together is a beginning. Keeping together is progress. Working together is success.” This is what volunteers experienced on 28 May in Hyderabad.

On the event of World Hunger Day, Food Bank – Hyderabad (FBH) organised a mega food drive for the city’s unprivileged and destitutes. The FBH team wanted to tell Hyderabad’s hungry people that there were people who cared.

130 volunteers divided among 15 different groups participated in the city-wide distribution drive that fed over 9,000 people in one day.

The event was flagged off by Mr Ravindra, Inspector of Police, PS Narayanguda. The food was distributed across Hyderabad – from government hospitals to public places, the homeless and the destitute were given food packets.

FBH collected its highest number of food packets on the day. Over 9,000 people received food packets and all government hospitals in the city were venues for the food distribution. Among the recipients were homeless people, differently-abled people, cancer patients, and orphans. Along with the food, 4,000 water packs were also distributed.

Volunteers also collected 4,000 buttermilk packets and conducted a separate massive buttermilk distribution drive at all the places in Hyderabad to help needy people beat the heat.

The man behind FBH

As of October 2016, 15% of India’s population is undernourished. In the 2016 Global Hunger Index (GHI) released by the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), India was placed at 97 out of 118 countries worldwide. This means that even war-torn countries like Iran, Iraq and Nigeria are doing better in feeding their respective populations.

Many individuals have taken it upon themselves to combat India’s hunger problem. One of them is Mohammed Aziz. Inspired by a 2015 article on The Logical Indian which described the efforts of a food bank in Chennai, Mr Aziz began a similar food bank in Hyderabad. Starting with a small and dedicated team of five people, today the Hyderabad food bank feeds over 30,000 people annually.

In January 2017, The Logical Indian interviewed Mr Aziz about the food bank’s success, his dedicated group of volunteers, and his thoughts on combating hunger in India. The interview can be read here.

Speaking about Sunday’s massive food drive, Mr Aziz told The Logical Indian, “This event is now a great, grand success … This was made possible because of the support of our amazing volunteers and food donors.”

He continued, “The joy of sharing is addictive and everyone should experience it. Our effort was to make Hyderabad a hunger-free city at least for a day – on World Hunger Day. We face many obstacles on our journey as a nation to make India hunger-free. However, it is still possible to make a hunger-free India a reality … We are just 1% done. Together, we can eliminate hunger. I can do things you cannot, you can do things I cannot: Together, we can do great things.”

Readers can learn more about Food Bank – Hyderabad or join the group here.

Read more: For The Past 2 Years, He Has Been Feeding 30,000 Poor People Annually Using A Facebook Group